Keep Old Man River rolling along

Mother Nature has reduced the mighty Mississippi, the lifeline of the U.S. breadbasket made famous around the world by author Mark Twain, to a trickle.

For years immemorial, the Mississippi River has meant life. Native Americans who settled along its path and set up significant communities and cultures in places like Poverty Point and Cahokia, Ill., named it. In translation, its name means "Father of Waters."

French trappers and traders followed the liquid highway before the United States was born, seeking their fortunes.

Later, cities sprung up. Cities like St. Louis and Memphis. Steamboats lined the levees and banks, three, four, five layers deep. The river provided transportation. The river provided a link to markets. The river provided life and livelihood.

And it still does. Flowing into the Mississippi River are such vital waterways as the Missouri and Ohio rivers. The Mississippi drains a large portion of America, and all shipping down the river comes past, and in many cases, stops, in Louisiana.

Every year, Louisiana ships more than $100 billion worth of commodities and finished goods to the rest of the United States. We simultaneously receive an almost equal amount of agricultural produce, machinery and other products from factories, farms and urban areas in the Mississippi River Valley and other sections of the country.

Much of these shipments are destined for international markets: In 2010 alone, more than $30 billion in exports passed through the Port of New Orleans on their way to important trade destinations such as China, Japan and Mexico.

That commerce, however, has slowed and is in danger of being shut down by drought and winter.

The Mississippi River level is dropping again, and barge industry trade groups warned river commerce could essentially come to a halt as early as next week in an area south of St. Louis.

Mike Petersen of the Army Corps of Engineers said ice on the northern Mississippi River is reducing the flow more than expected at the middle part of the river that is already at a low-water point unseen in decades, the result of months of drought.

The river level is now expected to get to 3 feet at the Thebes, Ill., gauge on Jan. 6. Thebes is a treacherous spot for barge operators because of hazardous rock formations and a big bend in the river. Worse still, the long-range forecast from the National Weather Service calls for the river to keep falling, reaching 2 feet on Jan. 23.

The Coast Guard remains confident the nation's largest waterway will remain open. But officials with two trade groups - the American Waterways Operators and Waterways Council Inc. - said in a joint news release that even if the river is open, further limits on barges will bring commercial traffic to a halt.

The trade groups renewed their call for presidential action requiring the Corps of Engineers to increase the flow of water from an upper Missouri River dam in South Dakota. The corps cut the flow by two-thirds in November because of drought conditions in that region, reducing the amount of Missouri River water flowing into the Mississippi to preserve water for that area.

Michael Toohey, president and CEO of Waterways Council Inc., said without the additional flow "we will have run out of time on this national crisis."

The corps should reconsider and release more of the water. In winter, the need for water in South Dakota is lessened. Water can, if necessary, be provided by emergency vehicles to quench residential needs. Too much rides, literally, on the Mississippi's economic ribbon of water for the state and the nation. Everything possible should be done to guarantee the river remains navigable.

The editorials in this column represent the opinions of The News-Star's editorial board, composed of President and Publisher David B. Petty, Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock and community representatives Kay Kellogg Katz, Harris Brown and Will Sutton Jr.

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Keep Old Man River rolling along

Mother Nature has reduced the mighty Mississippi, the lifeline of the U.S. breadbasket made famous around the world by author Mark Twain, to a trickle.For years immemorial, the Mississippi River has